


Eyes of the Beholder

by primaryglitch



Series: Garments of Rebellion [1]
Category: Persona 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 06:00:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21113849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/primaryglitch/pseuds/primaryglitch
Summary: Ann finds comfort as her identity as Pather, yet her outfits brings her conflict. Carmen comes to Ann in her time of need and helps her realize what is in plain sight





	Eyes of the Beholder

**Author's Note:**

> Ann's outfit has always bothered me with how her feelings towards it were never acknowledge in any length or depth. This is my answer to her plight.

When Carmen came to her, the flame she let simmer within her burst forth with the intensity of an inferno. She finally let her rage flow over her. Her rage at Kamoshida, at the world for turning a blind eye, and even at herself for not fighting back for far too long. It wasn't her that was wrong, it was the world- for permitting such heinous acts and allowing it to be commonplace. For treating her, for treating Shiho, like a prize for the claiming, to be owned and displayed like trophies. For the deep sadness and fear that she had felt for herself, for Shiho, for all like them.

Carmen was there in the eye of her firestorm. Her gaze was not that of pity or disgust had that become a constant when others looked down on her, but of passion and power. Within her voice, a promise, an everlasting vow of sisterhood. Resolve took hold of her, she would no longer allow herself to be a victim in a narrative that she had been unwillingly written into. No longer would she be prey, no longer would she allow Shiho to be. If the world couldn’t, no _refused_, to protect them, then she would in its stead. She would become the blazing inferno that purged the Earth of scum and filth. Only after the forest had been culled of parasites could new growth take root.

With Carmen as her muse, what she had deemed impossible was hers for the taking.

* * *

She didn't understand her outfit at first, she hated it and hated herself even more knowing it manifested from the depths of her psyche. All the power she had felt dissipated into shame and doubt. It was a betrayal, as if the words that had been thrown at her were true, that she was just a plaything defined by her relation to men- a slut, whore, Kamoshida's bitch and nothing more. But Carmen remained with her, never rejecting her feelings. Her voice still reached Ann, whispering that she simply had to face the most difficult challenge of all. Carmen was sound within her heart, not unsettled by her doubt in the slightest as if she had expected Ann’s conflict. She gave the distinct feeling that she was waiting, that Ann would understand the skin granted by her other self in time. However, Carmen did not leave her with nothing but promises of further understanding. Within her soul, one word rang out.

**R E B E L L I O N**

She contemplated that word for a long time. It what she thought she had become a part of, that it had become a part of her- yet, her outfit felt like the antithesis. She couldn’t think of any other way to spin it that was true to herself. What confused her more was that Carmen did not deny this. It was only when she accepted that fact instead of trying to deny it that the smoke parted for her.

Her outfit, her other self, was a rebellion, never acceptance or submission. She couldn't control that men looked at her with lust and possessiveness in their eyes, but she could beckon them forth with the curl of her finger and batting of her eyes. She could enchant them, reel them in, and control them. Her enemies would come willingly into her trap, foolish men who think they are in power only to have it flipped on them.

Her outfit was a dagger hidden in plain sight. Ignored because it was in the hands of a woman, who was assumed clearly helpless and passive in a man's world. It brought her targets closer, convinced them she was only a prize to be claimed, her danger invisible under the mask of seduction. Their lust would blind them, the smoke fanned from her fire, and she would rob them of everything.

With all eyes on her, she had dominance. No longer would groping hands or ravish gazes fall upon other women, she would hold their focus even during the moment of the kill. She was the beast lurking within a house cat. They assumed that she had been long tamed and now performed for the sole purpose of their entertainment. But with her hidden claws and fangs, she would slit the throats of despicable men. In her presence, she would never allow any women to be forced into that dark corner as Shiho had been. 

Her outfit never negated her own power, it enhanced it. Her body was her arsenal, her outfit her ammunition. With this truth in her soul, never again would she be unarmed.

**Author's Note:**

> The tone between the two halves of the stories was purposeful. The first was a representation of the power rush of getting a persona. The second was long after, when Ann is outside of the palace and has time to meditate.


End file.
